You wouldnt be surprised if I told you the Chinese are
taking over the world.

The Chinese economic model has created hundreds of thousands
of millionaires. Now the newly rich are taking their
hard-earned cash and investing overseas.

According to the most recent China Private Wealth Report,
published by China Merchant Bank and Bain & Company, an
increasing number of Chinese investors are interested in
putting their money to work abroad. One in three HNWI of those
surveyed said they had overseas investments  double the
amount of investors that had similar
investment patterns when the survey was last compiled two
years ago. And 60% of those asked were interested in increasing
their overseas assets.

If a Chinese investor has enough money and time, they can
buy permanent status in many desirable countries. And it seems
to be a win-win situation with the US, UK and elsewhere
accessing important funds to push growth forward.

However, could there be a bidding war between countries
vying for Chinese money? Smaller, less-suspecting countries are
now offering incentives for international investors to set up
shop in their countries  often at lower prices and
with fewer conditions. Perhaps we will soon see a large
Chinese settlement in St Kitts.

UK: Introduced in 2008,
investor visas allow high net worth foreign
individuals, with at least £1 million to invest, to
remain in the UK on a long-term basis. From June 2011 to
June 2012, Russian investors formed the biggest group
representing 24% of all successful applicants. Chinese
investors took up 23% of issued visas, and the USA took
5%. 419 visas of this kind were given out in this time
period.

US: The investor visa programme
known as EB-5. People who invest at least $500,000 and
create at least 10 jobs can get a temporary visa and
apply for permanent citizenship. 80% of the 7,641
immigrants who got visas under the programme in 2012 were
from China.

Canada: To be eligible for the
Canada Investor Visa, candidates must be able to
demonstrate a minimum net worth of CDN$1.6 million.
Following this, they must then invest CDN$800,000 with
the Canadian Government for five years or make a one-off,
non-refundable payment of approximately
CDN$120,000.

Australia: Significant
investor visa to rich foreigners who agree to
invest at least $5 million in the Australian economy.
Investors get to settle in Australia for four years, with
the potential for a permanent visa later. Deloitte
estimates Australia could issue as many as 700 visas a
year under the programme. The subclass of permanent visa
to go along with the programme is numbered
888  a number Chinese associate
with wealth.

Hungary: Non-EU citizens who buy
five-year government bonds worth 250,000 ($324,000)
would be given citizenship and access to 27 nations of
the European Union.

St Kitts and Nevis: Immigrants can
obtain citizenship through a $250,000 donation to the
governments Sugar Industry Diversification Fund or
a real-estate purchase of at least $450,000. With the
passport they will also get visa-free access to most of
Europe and other former British
colonies.

Cyprus: For foreign investors to get
a three-year visa, which will also allow access to the
entire European Union, Cyprus requires a real estate
purchase of at least 300,000 (US$391,320).
The popularity of this visa has been
waning.

Portugal: In a similar vein to the
Cyprus deal, residency visas are offered to real estate
investors that can be converted to citizenship in six
years for 500,000.

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